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Connecticut Town to Buy Back, Burn Violent Video Games

We’ve previously documented the way the media has blamed video games in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy. Once it was revealed that the killer was a fan of Starcraft, a relatively non-violent strategy game, the age old witch hunt began again from blog posts to full-on segments on CNN. Then the NRA came out and blamed specific games as having a role in the massacre, and saying that in fact more guns would have helped prevent the shooting. We spent many days debating the differences between video game violence and gun violence, but today the issue takes new relevance.

According to Polygon one Connecticut town, Southington, is now combining the idea of gun buybacks, where people are paid to turn in their firearms, and the age-old ignorant tradition of book, art or album burning from decades or even centuries past. The group SouthingtonSOS has organized an event that will offer people a $25 gift card to turn in their violent video games, which will later be broken and ultimately incinerated. The group explains their plan, saying it’s not blaming video games for the massacre, but they’re a bad influence nonetheless:

“The group’s action is not intended to be construed as statement declaring that violent video games were the cause of the shocking violence in Newtown on December 14th. Rather, SouthingtonSOS is saying is that there is ample evidence that violent video games, along with violent media of all kinds, including TV and Movies portraying story after story showing a continuous stream of violence and killing, has contributed to increasing aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and is desensitizing our children to acts of violence including bullying. Social and political commentators, as well as elected officials including the president, are attributing violent crime to many factors including inadequate gun control laws, a culture of violence and a recreational culture of violence.”

Again we have this claim of “ample evidence” about video games effects on children, when in reality there is anything but. And the fact remains that tying something to “increased aggressiveness” in some small sample is still worlds away from what it takes to make someone a mass killer. Next, of course there’s the evidence we’ve already discussed, about how other countries with huge gaming populations like Japan have incredibly low murder rates, much of it likely due to the inaccessibility of guns, rather than the type of media they consume.

This group might release a statement saying that they don’t blame video games, but to organize the equivalent of a gun buyback for games implies both are equally dangerous, which would be a laughable notion if people weren’t taking it so seriously. And then burning them? When have those who have burned books or works of art they felt “corruptible” ever been on the right side of history?

I understand people need to cope and feel like they’re doing something to prevent future tragedies, but this is one of the most misguided attempts I’ve seen to date, and denigrates an entire industry for no reason.

There are often few answers to be found when these sorts of tragedies occur, but if we’re trying to look at the cold, hard data, video games can not reasonably be anywhere near the top of the list in terms of blame. As for the actual motivating factors like poor parenting and mental health? They contribute, but those things exist in countries around the world as well. The only common thread appears to be the fact that we live in a country where there are 88 guns for every 100 people. Yes, there will always be the evil and unstable out there. A man in China around the time of the Newton shooting slashed over 20 schoolchildren with a knife. But as he didn’t have access to a gun, those 20 children are alive today. No word on his gaming preferences, however.

Video games are not guns, and to treat them as equally dangerous is helping no one and doing nothing but obscure the true causes of tragedies like this.

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I have the same problem with this headline as the original one on Polygon. Claiming they’re “burning” the games in the same fashion as a good-ole book burning is, while technically accurate, misleading and inflammatory (no pun intended.) The games will be incinerated just like any trash. It’s not a public, dance-around-the-bonfire ceremonial burning that the headline implies.

I think it’s an important distinction. I do have a problem with what they’re doing now – it is certainly misguided. But I don’t think it has quite the same hostility as is typically associated with public book burnings.

Totally agree, this is straight out of the Dark Ages.. However, I do think too many *young* children get their hands on adult games at a far too young age. It’s parents who are gamers themselves who are convinced there is absolutely nothing wrong with playing games, no matter how violent, and therefore let their kids play whatever’s on hand. I do think this could be bad for a child. For example… I was visiting a friend who had an kid about 8 years old. While we were there, this kid was stuck on some part of a game. For almost an hour he would sneak around and violently and graphically slit some guys throat and massacre dozens of people. Blood gushing and very realistic. Over and over and over again. It was even starting to bother me. I do think most kids can understand reality from video games, however a child’s mind, rational and logic does not work the same. Being exposed to such unconsequential violence at such a young age can’t be good. The rating system is supposed to take care of this, but many parents (like movies too) tend to ignore this. I don’t know how else to keep children away from these ‘shiny cool toys,’ but I think more could be done.

Adults can subject themselves to whatever media they want, but I do feel uneasy knowing so many kids left to their own devices are able to see/play many of these major bloody titles. However, it’s not the media’s fault and should not be censored just because parent’s don’t pay enough attention to their kids. Book…er game burning is not the way to handle this, that’s a given.

Those Chinese school children, their attacker was stopped by a guard whom was put in place by the previous attackers whom killed 20 and wounded 50 children. Your conclusion is bad, I could present the argument that because the Chinese so heavily censer their media and thus Video games the direct conclusion is the lack of mass murders of Chinese school children by assault weapons. Stop tossing the 2nd Amendment under the bus in a poor attempt to preserver the 1st.